nuclear-news

Doubtful economic benefit to Virginia in uranium mining

Is Virginia’s uranium worth the digging? KATIE WHITEHEAD, Times
Dispatch,  Virginia’s current prohibition on uranium mining protects
us and provides us the opportunity to understand not only the risks
and possible benefits involved if we were to allow uranium mining in
Virginia. It also gives us the chance to look at who would bear those
risks — and how any benefits that might materialize would be
distributed….. The unpredictability of the uranium market offers no
guarantee that Coles Hill uranium would bring a high enough price to
attract private investors or justify Virginia developing regulations
and hiring enforcement staff.
If our legislators allow future uranium mining, market uncertainties
could threaten the stability Southern Virginia needs to transition
from dependence on manufacturing and tobacco toward a diverse,
agriculture- and knowledge-based economy that can be relied upon to
sustain our well-being. The proposed uranium project in Pittsylvania
County has been controversial, divisive and economically unsettling.
Even if there is never a mine, the possibility alone threatens
relationships and fundamental civility……
http://www.timesdispatch.com/archive/is-virginia-s-uranium-worth-the-digging/article_4443c8bb-763b-554c-87b0-e8a6141fadc1.html

January 5, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general